LONDON, Ont. - The OUA West leading Western Mustangs fell 3-2 in a shootout loss to the sixth place Guelph Gryphons on Feb.12 on home ice.
Randy Hanagan and Chris Rocca added the goals for Western, assisted by Josh McQuade, Julian Cimadamore and Adam McKee. Guelph's goals were scored by Ken Peroff, Edward Gale, and Jon Thomas Macdonald, who scored the shootout winner.
Western honoured their Seniors and FISU Members prior to their game to a full crowd this Saturday at Thompson Arena. Among the Senior Mustangs honourees were captain Kyle Lamb, assistant captains Adam Nemeth and Jason Furlong along with Jason Swit.
FISU Members honoured were Western's goaltender Anthony Grieco, defensemen Scott Aarssen and Geoff Killing, forwards Kevin Baker, Yashar Farmanara, Keaton Turkiewicz and Aaron Snow. Mustangs Head Coach Clark Singer was also honoured at the event, along with Guelph's Tim Priamo, Thomas Kiriakou, and Assisstant Coach Shawn Camp.
Western wasted no time putting points on the board as McQuade rifled a pass to Hanagan, who sliced it through the legs of Loverock, gaining the opening point with 42 seconds into the first. Swift batted a rebound shot into the net, which was revoked due to the net being knocked off its pegs. As game speed intensified, Cimadamore earned himself a hooking penalty at 13:45 on the clock. Western was able to kill the powerplay with ease and continued with their momentum to apply the pressure on Loverock. Josh Unice was a withstanding force, shutting down Guelph time and time again. The Gryphons responded with frustration by knocking Cimadamore into their own goalies net. Both teams played a close period, ending with an even 17 shots on goal.
The seesaw battle continued into the second period. Shaun Furlong received a hooking penalty a quarter way into the period while defending Unice from an oncoming Guelph attack. The Gryphon's persistence finally paid as Peroff fired a shot past Unice at 15:11 in the second to tie up the game 1-1.
As the third period kicked-off, both teams fought for the lead. Guelph capitalized with a goal at 4:02, but their lead did not last long, as Western's Rocca netted his fourth goal of the season a mere two minutes later off a pass assist from McKee. Swit collected a hooking penalty near the end of the period but the Gryphons could not use their advantage and the scoreboard was locked at 2-2 heading into overtime.
In a nail-bitting overtime period, both teams tried desperately to attain the winning goal. Neither one was able to utilize an advantage and the game moved to a shootout.
Disappointment followed for the Mustangs as in the fourth round of the shootout Macdonald edged a shot past Unice for the Guelph advantage. The pressure was on Aarssen to regain a point for the Mustangs, but he fell short, ending the shootout with a 3-2 Gryphon victory.
The Gryphons out-shot the Mustangs 51-38.
"It sucks to end the season on a loss," says Aarssen after the game, "Both teams played pretty well and if we could have scored on a couple more of our chances, it could have went either way."
Despite the loss, Aarssen is optimistic about moving forward into the playoffs, "We're going to be the team to beat."
The Western Mustangs will host the Windsor Lancers, ranked eight in the OUA West, for their first play-off game on Feb.17 at 7:30 p.m. in Thompson Arena.
